A distributor's route sheet tells an underwriter almost everything: how many stops, what's on the truck, whose goods they are and where the truck sleeps loaded. Here's how to turn it into a policy that fits the trucks and the cargo.
Quick answer
A commercial auto policy typically covers the box trucks and flatbeds and your liability on the route. The goods on board usually need cargo or transit coverage, and which one fits depends on whether the load still belongs to you or already belongs to the customer. Our program is for business-to-business routes, not home delivery.
Picture a building-supply distributor's morning. Nine box trucks and three flatbeds roll out of two branches, each with a dozen or more stops: contractors' shops, job sites, plumbing and electrical counters and a few retail stores. One flatbed carries a knuckle boom to set pallets on a roof. By noon some trucks are reloading for an afternoon run, and by evening the first trucks for tomorrow are loaded and parked in the yard.
Most lines on that route sheet answer an underwriting question. The stop count says how often trucks park, back up and pull into traffic. The load suggests what a theft or a crash could cost. The overnight column says whether a loaded truck sits in a fenced yard or on a street. Distributors who send their route sheets with the application usually get fewer follow-up questions and a policy that fits.
One boundary first: We write deliveries to businesses. Home delivery and last-mile parcel work sit in a separate market, and adding even a few residential stops can shift the risk the policy was priced on.
Cargo coverage is where distributors most often guess wrong, because the answer depends on who owns the goods at each point in the trip.
| The goods | Usually owned by | Coverage to check |
|---|---|---|
| Your inventory moving between branches | You | An owner's cargo or transit form, or a transit extension on your property policy |
| Goods sold but not yet delivered, when title passes at delivery | You, until the customer signs | The same owner's cargo or transit coverage |
| Goods sold with title passing at your dock | The customer | Cargo coverage for goods of others in your care |
| Customer returns, cores and items picked up for repair | The customer | Cargo coverage for goods of others |
Your sales terms usually decide which row applies, so pull the language on title and risk of loss from your invoices before you choose a form. Motor truck cargo insurance explains what a cargo form typically pays and the exclusions to read closely, especially for unattended trucks, refrigeration breakdown and high-theft goods. Some forms handle both your goods and customers' goods; ask which yours does.
Size the cargo limit to a truck's highest-value load on a normal busy day, not its average. A distributor whose trucks usually carry fittings and fasteners, but carry a full load of copper wire twice a month, should set the limit for the copper day.
The auto policy itself generally covers the trucks, their liftgates and cranes and your liability for crashes on the route. Our distributor quotes begin with $1 million in combined single limit liability, a level many vendor agreements ask for.
Here's how the distributor above would lay out its schedule and cargo for an underwriter.
| Unit | Route | Ordinary load | Peak load | Overnight |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Six box trucks, branch one | Contractors and counters | Fittings, fixtures, fasteners | Copper wire and pipe | Fenced yard; three pre-loaded |
| Three box trucks, branch two | Retail stores and job sites | Mixed hardware | Water heaters and appliances | Fenced yard |
| Two flatbeds | Job-site deliveries | Palletized block | Long pipe and rebar | Fenced yard |
| Flatbed with knuckle boom | Rooftop and upper-floor drops | Roofing and drywall pallets | Concrete tile | Fenced yard |
The peak-load column sets the cargo limit. The overnight column shows the theft exposure, since pre-loaded trucks sitting in a yard are where distributors' cargo thefts tend to happen. Commercial truck thefts in California barely moved in 2025, falling 5.06% to 1,802 by the CHP's count, while thefts of all vehicles fell 24.3%, and a loaded box truck is usually worth far more to a thief than an empty one. Distributors in this position usually add cameras, GPS on the trucks and a rule that pre-loaded trucks park with their cargo doors backed against a wall or fence.
The knuckle-boom flatbed deserves its own line in the description. Driving it is generally auto; setting a pallet on a customer's roof sits closer to general liability, the same split roofers face when their own trucks land material. A roofing contractor's fleet insurance playbook covers the roofer's side of that delivery.
Official sources
Many of a distributor's claims happen at the stops, not between them: A box truck backing to a dock clips a parked car, a liftgate drops onto a customer's forklift, a driver double-parks outside a counter, and a cyclist swerves into traffic. These are low-speed claims, but a route with a dozen stops a day produces a lot of chances, and they're often the pattern underwriters look for first in a distributor's loss runs.
A few route rules help with most of them. Drivers walk around before backing at any stop they don't know, use a spotter at docks where one is available and never back into an alley blind. Liftgates are inspected on a schedule, and only drivers trained on them run them. Dispatchers plan stops so a driver isn't promising four deliveries in an hour that only fits three. Put those rules in writing and send them with the route sheets.
One boundary question comes up often for building-supply routes. Our market is business delivery: a contractor's yard, shop or commercial job site. Selling to homeowners and delivering their orders to their doors is home delivery, and it isn't a market we place.
Breweries that self-distribute run a smaller version of the same operation, with kegs and reefer trucks; see a brewery's guide to delivery van coverage. Our page on supplier delivery truck insurance covers the rest, from leased trucks to fleet size.
Get a distributor fleet quote and send a week of route sheets along with the truck list.
Driving a distributor's knuckle-boom flatbed to the job is typically auto. Setting a pallet on a customer's roof with the boom sits closer to general liability, so both policies need to be read for that delivery.
Distributors often pick a cargo form without checking when title passes on their own invoices. Whether the load is still yours or already the customer's usually decides which form pays, so pull the sales terms first.
A distributor's route sheets show stop counts, loads and where trucks sleep loaded, the facts underwriters otherwise chase in follow-up questions. Attaching a week of them often lets the first conversation start further along.
Distributors' cargo thefts tend to happen to trucks loaded the night before and parked in the yard. Cameras, GPS and parking with cargo doors against a wall or fence help protect both the truck and the load.
Official resources
Requirements change without notice. Confirm what applies to your fleet with the agency before relying on it.
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Have ready: vehicle list with VINs, driver list, current declarations page, loss runs.
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